We’re two series into the 2026 Yankees season, and the Bombers sit not only atop the division, but also atop the entire American League with a 5-1 record. After sweeping the San Francisco Giants to open the season, the Yanks took two out of three against a very good Seattle Mariners team. There’s a lot to like up to this point, but as always, there’s also some areas of concern.
Opening Series in the Bay
The first ever MLB game on Netflix, and the only MLB game that day. The Yankees came out with a quick bang as they hung a five-spot on Giants ace Logan Webb, with six consecutive batters reaching base safely. It was cruise control from there for Max Fried, who pitched 6.1 shutout innings with just three baserunners allowed. The bullpen came in and shut the door stress-free, allowing just two batters to reach base safely in the final three frames. In game two, it was a similar story. Cam Schlittler shoved in his first start of the season, pitching 5.1 scoreless innings with just one hit allowed, no walks, and eight strikeouts. That lone hit from Heliot Ramos would be the only hit the Giants mustered up all game, as the Yankee bullpen breezed through their lineup. Aaron Judge and Giancarlo Stanton both homered in this game, a recipe for success that has been working for the Bombers for nine years now. Game three was another brilliant pitching day. Will Warren surrendered the first run of the season, ending a 20 inning scoreless streak. That would be the only run given up all game, and another Aaron Judge homer led the way to another low-scoring Yankee win.
Swinging in Seattle
The Yanks traveled north up the coast to rainy, cold Seattle. Ryan Weathers made his Yankee debut in game one, and despite a solid performance, the Yanks suffered their first loss of the season. MVP runner up from 2025 Cal Raleigh hit a walkoff single off Paul Blackburn, to win it for the Mariners 2-1. Another good pitching outing, however Luis Castillo was dialed in, and averaged an extra 3” of Induced Vertical Break on his four-seamer Monday night. Max Fried was tasked with being the stopper for the first time this season, pitching after a loss. He did what aces do, going seven shutout innings with eight strikeouts. A couple of scoreless innings from the pen won this one by a score of 5-0. Ben Rice, Cody Bellinger, Giancarlo Stanton, and Trent Grisham led the way offensively to put five runs on the board against Logan Gilbert, who the Yankees have always hit well. Game three was the first rubber-match of the season, and the Yankees got another impressive win. Cam Schlittler wasn’t fooling anyone on April first, as 70 of his 79 pitches were variations of his fastball (four-seam, cutter, sinker). Paul Goldschmidt had a massive three-run home run to break the game open off of George Kirby, and Ben Rice added a solo shot late in the game for some insurance. The back end of the bullpen Camilo Doval and David Bednar got into some trouble, allowing three runs to come in combined, but Bednar was able to shut the door and pick up his third save of the young season.
Some Takeaways
The Yankees offense is off to a slow start. After a five-spot off Logan Webb in the second inning of Opening Day, it looked like the offense was already back to last year’s form. That ended up not being the case, as they would struggle for much of the remainder of the road trip. They rank 20th in team WRC+, and 22nd in fWAR. San Francisco is a tough hitter’s park, and Seattle’s pitching staff is nothing short of elite. It doesn’t get any easier for the home opener in the Bronx, with Eury Perez lined up for the Marlins. However after that, with the final two games against the fish and the Athletics coming to town, the offense should get rolling.
This pitching staff can contend as one of the best in baseball. Through six games, the Yanks have allowed just six runs combined to go along with a 1.92 FIP, both the best marks in baseball. The bullpen has been good so far, however there’s still some question marks with the depth, as they haven’t gotten both Ryan Yarbrough or Cade Winquest into a game yet, and had Paul Blackburn pitching the 8th and 9th of a tie game in Seattle. This rotation will be even scarier when Gerrit Cole and Carlos Rodon return from injury.
The Yankee captain is off to a slow start. Aaron Judge has just three hits (two of them homers) in six games, and has struck out 47% of the time thus far. What feels even stranger is he has walked just once. Reminder that Judge posted an OPS below .700 for the first month+ of the season in 2024, when he would go on to have a 220 WRC+ and 11.3 fWAR and win AL MVP unanimously. As ugly as some of his at bats may look so far, we are still a ways away from being in “worried” territory.
Cam Schlittler looks like nothing short of a star. After a great rookie season where he pitched in the second half and postseason, Schlittler has leveled up. His arsenal has improved with his new cutter shape, which I wrote about here during spring training. Cam has unleashed this new trio of fastballs, which has led to 15 strikeouts and no walks while being on a pitch count. On top of this, he has suppressed damage with a 83.1mph average exit velo, and no barrels allowed yet. The sky is the limit for Cam, he may already be a frontline starter in his second season in the bigs for a contender.
5-1 is a great start for this team, even if we’re waiting for the offense to kick it into high gear. The Miami Marlins will come to town tomorrow, and they are surprisingly one of the two other teams to start 5-1 as well. The Yankees will be sending out Will Warren to the bump to pitch in front of a sold out Yankee stadium. The Yankees put themselves in a good spot with a strong first week, time to keep the momentum rolling.